<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:courier new,monospace">Why most of the people tend to confuse "open source" with "free work"</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font size="1">Richard Cruz</font></div>
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<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 12:55 PM, fs <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:fs@szmidt.org" target="_blank">fs@szmidt.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">* I might very well go outside the intended purpose with this list,<br>
* in which case I apologize! You can remove it with my blessing.<br>
* The Biz list appears to not be in use.<br>
* I just see that we all want to be successful with Freeswitch<br>
* and many want to make a living with it, thus:<br>
<br>
How do you make a good living from Open Source Software with, for<br>
example, Freeswitch? (Staying away from promoting any business, but<br>
sharing valuable experiences.)<br>
<br>
What works for you and what does not work for you?<br>
<br>
I've been operating for years and give away a lot of my time to both<br>
potential clients as well as paid clients. My product is not yet changed<br>
to using Freeswitch but I'm working on it. Generally my rule is that if<br>
I can do something verbally without using my computer I help them. In<br>
other words they don't have to be afraid of talking with me.<br>
<br>
But there's also a technical limit on how far I go. It needs to be a<br>
fairly simple thing, such as on a heavily loaded server use RAID 10 and<br>
SAS drives. That security is a vital consideration and why, including<br>
some pointers on how to implement that. My thought on it is that if my<br>
clients cannot stay in business I won't have any clients. And I do care.<br>
I'm also the happiest when I have helped someone win.<br>
<br>
Not that simple, rule wise, but I strike a balance. A good paying client<br>
receives more free service than one that does not. I'm also taking into<br>
consideration their attitude, which leads me to a huge point. A client<br>
who does not assume full responsibility for his business and equipment<br>
and is looking for some scapegoat to blame, I drop.<br>
<br>
In ten years I've only had four refund requests and they were all well<br>
serviced beyond what they paid for, for example I spent two hours<br>
helping a guy to get in and change the Linux root password. He kept<br>
saying "Maybe I should not be in this business." After two hours I said<br>
"Yes, maybe you should not, I think he was trying to use my willingness<br>
to help. But the bottom line was he was not willing to be responsible<br>
for his server, and could not write down and enter the same password<br>
twice, and needed someone to blame when he screwed it up. Which he did<br>
nonstop.<br>
<br>
As a generality small business eat up your time and large ones expect to<br>
pay. When I depend on someone servicing the product I got from them I<br>
insist on paying as I need them to remain in business.<br>
<br>
When you use Paypal, add a function that adds the IP address of the<br>
buyer, this way when their CC company are told they did not authorize<br>
the purchase you can show the IP that was used. PP have always gone to<br>
bat for me when I get a refund request as they have all been scams and I<br>
could show it. However, if they used a CC then the CC company makes the<br>
final decision on the refund.<br>
<br>
---<br>
fs<br>
<br>
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